Unrecognized Recognition
by nathalielove
Summary: 2 years after the Battle of Hogwarts, Hermione sets out to find her parents and return their memories of her. But nothing will prepare her for what she finds instead - a certain professor that she thought she had seen die. Severus x Hermione.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: New story time! Yay! I've been planning on writing a Severus/Hermione story for AGES, and I finally got help in starting on it. Super huge shoutout to silver-nightstorm for helping me with ideas for this story. This chapter'll be short – it's meant to be like.. a teaser. Anyways, enough of my rambling. Just a hint, reviews are mucho loved.

* * *

It had been two years since the Battle of Hogwarts, and everything seemed to go back to normal. Harry's scar hadn't hurt not once, and was living at the Burrow with the Weasleys. Ron was the same old normal Ron. Hermione had finished up her education at Hogwarts and now... well, she had set out on an adventure of her own.

The brunette hadn't been able to get her parents off her mind since the battle ended. She knew that they would have been so proud of her to hear of her accomplishments. She felt so lost – her parents obviously had no idea who she was anymore, since she had Obliviated herself from their memories. So she decided now was as good a time as any to go and find them. How she was going to tell her Muggle parents that she was their daughter and she had used magic to erase their memories, she wasn't sure, but she was sure she would come up with it when she got there.

When she returned to London, an overwhelming feeling of nostalgia washed over her. She hadn't been back here in about two years. Everything had happened here. But most of all, she had wiped her parents' memory here. She swallowed the lump forming in her throat and pushed on. She didn't know where her parents were – for all she knew, they were somewhere completely different. They could have moved house. They could be anywhere. They could even have left England. The thought made her shiver, and she pulled her black jacket tighter around her. The cold winter wind nipped at her nose and cheeks. She definitely hadn't missed that.

She spotted a public phone box out of the corner of her eye, and her dark brown eyes lit up. Maybe they would still be around... She bit her lip and opened the door, shutting herself in. She rummaged through her jacket pockets, hoping that she had some Muggle money with her. Luckily, she had a few quarters. She inserted them in the slots and held the phone to her ear with shaking hands. The device held against her ear was a foreign feeling – she hadn't used a phone at all during her education at Hogwarts, and afterwards she hadn't any use for it. She dialed in her mother's cell phone number, her stomach filling with dread and heart pounding against her ribs.

And then, she got an answer.

But, it wasn't one that she had been hoping for. "Hullo?" came a deep, gravelly voice – one that definitely didn't belong to either her mother or her father.

"Um, are Kate or George there?" she asked quietly, her voice cracking.

"Sorry, sweetheart, you've got the wrong number," replied the gruff voice, and there was a click, and the line went dead. Tears stung Hermione's eyes, and she wiped them away quickly. She hung up the phone with more force than intended, and buried her face in her hands, allowing herself a moment of weakness. She finally gathered her composure and took a deep breath. She had to find them some way, somehow.

She rubbed her arms as she headed down the street. Snow had started to fall and was dotting her not-so-bushy hair. Her lip was trembling. She didn't know what she had been expecting. Was she expecting them to just show up and be right where they were the whole time? They didn't have a daughter – they could travel and do whatever they wanted. She did remember them having a certain fondness for Australia... The familiar feeling of dread pooled in her stomach and she tried to push the thoughts away. She hoped they wouldn't go somewhere like that, somewhere that far away. She took another deep breath and headed down the street.

It wasn't quite so easy to travel this way – she couldn't Apparate, and using the Floo network would be practically useless. She couldn't imagine how a Muggle would feel if she suddenly came out of their chimney. Riding a broom was completely out of the question. But at least she was getting some exercise. She was getting rather close to her street, though.

As she approached her street, Hermione found her heart racing even faster. She bit down hard on her lip as she approached the house. It was pretty much exactly how she remembered it... except her parents' car wasn't in the driveway. Her mind filled with horrible, pessimistic thoughts. What if they really were in Australia by now? It had been two years, after all... She steeled herself for what was coming and knocked on the door. She heard shuffling around, but no answer. She peered through the windows. There was no doubt that she could see a figure in there. Someone was moving around, someone who didn't want her to know that he or she was there. She returned to the door, knocking loudly. "H-Hello? I'm looking for my mum and dad," she called.

But even still, there was no answer. Hermione pursed her lips – this was getting aggravating. "I'm going to come in there if you keep ignoring me!" she called into the house. She waited another minute, two minutes... nothing. She opened the door, which was miraculously unlocked, and tiptoed through the house. It was quiet, and... filthy. Her parents obviously hadn't lived here in ages. This made her heart sink even more. But that meant that someone lived her and wasn't taking care of the house, and that alone was enough to make her even more angry. "Who's in here? I'm not kidding, I'll come and find you!" she called out. She heard more shuffling, some banging about, and a grunt. But still, no answer. She kept as quiet as she could, following the source of the noise.

And finally, Hermione came upon the dining room – a mess, a shamble of what it used to be. It pained her to see her only home in such a state. She came upon the figure, robed in all black. And somehow... they looked extremely familiar. The long, greasy black hair, pitch black robes, small frame, pale skin...

Her dark brown eyes widened. "Professor Snape?"


	2. Chapter 2

"_Professor Snape?"_

The man whipped around, dark eyes wild, wide, full of fear. His face had taken on a ghastly shade of white, except for the dark circles beneath his bloodshot eyes. His hair had grown past his shoulders, but there was no doubt that he was her old Potions teacher. "Granger?" he asked, his voice deep and gravelly, obviously from lack of use. To be honest, it almost broke Hermione's heart to see him like that. After all, it had been revealed that he wasn't as bad as everyone thought he had been, that he had been trying to protect Harry from the start.

"Professor, I thought...-"

He cut her off right away. "You thought I was dead? Well, it appears that I have succeeded. Now, Granger, I'll have to ask you to get out." He took a step toward her, but Hermione shook her head.

"But... why did you do it?" she asked him, pursing her lips. He had everyone convinced he was dead – Hermione herself had been sure that he was dead. Everyone was. She remembered how heartbroken Harry had been when he found out. After all, if it wasn't for Severus, Harry probably wouldn't have lived through his years at Hogwarts. That in mind, Hermione knew that she had to get him to come back as soon as possible.

Severus brushed his long, greasy hair out of his face, his dark eyes piercing straight through her. "I have my reasons, Granger, now would you please-"

"Come back with me." Hermione spoke firmly. There was no way that she would go back without him. Part of her wanted to make things right again, to show the professor that the trio were all quite sorry for how they had treated him during their years at Hogwarts. But it seemed that Severus didn't want to hear it. He was heading back to the corner that he had been sitting in, where Hermione spotted various bones of what she supposed were small animals.

This definitely caught his attention. He whipped back around, glaring at her once more. His stare sent shivers down Hermione's spine. "Come back with you? Do you have any idea what's going to happen if I go back?" He licked his lips nervously. "All those damned Death Eaters are going to be after me. And I know they haven't given up. One never stops being a Death Eater." He spoke with finality – nothing Hermione said was going to change his mind.

The brunette shook her head. She wouldn't leave without him – she had already decided. "Well, I suppose you want to stay here and starve? Because it looks like that's what you're doing." She placed her hands on her hips, daring him to make any kind of retort. Since the Battle of Hogwarts, she had gotten better at speaking her mind – standing up to the professor wasn't a concern to her anymore, whereas in her fourth or even fifth year, she never would have dared.

Severus' gaze didn't budge – his eyes remained on hers. She did notice a small tug at the corner of his lip, almost like he was smirking. "I don't know why you're so insistent, Granger, but answer me this. Where would I go if I were to go back with you? Should I just hide out in Hogsmeade where no one can find me? Take up residence underneath the floorboards of the Hog's Head?"

Hermione sighed. There was no getting through to him – but she didn't blame him. She understood why he wouldn't want to go back. She didn't know how she could get him to. "You can stay with me," she blurted out. She didn't know why in the world she thought that was a good idea, but it was the first thing that came into her mind. "No one comes over to my house. No one would know you were there."

Severus lifted a dark eyebrow, and Hermione couldn't read the look on his face. He had the same stoic, hardened expression on his face that he always wore. Her breath caught in her throat, and finally, he answered. "I don't know if I should question your judgment of my safety, Miss Granger."

"I know what I'm doing!" she huffed impatiently. She was getting tired of arguing with him. "Come on. I don't appreciate you mucking up my house, and at least if you come with me, I'll be able to clean up after you."

At that, Severus looked genuinely surprised, but he didn't say anything. "Fine. Let's go."

Hermione was quite surprised that he had agreed so easily, but nevertheless, she was glad. "Come on." She grabbed onto his arm and Apparated, bringing them back into her flat. She was quite disappointed that she had to give up her search for her parents – maybe it was for the best right now. She couldn't seem to get it out of her mind that her parents were probably in Australia. She was almost 100% sure now that they were there. It was the only place that they would go if they left their former home. How she would get to Australia, she had no idea. She would have to save up so much Muggle money... She pushed the thoughts out of her mind and turned to her former professor. "Are you, er, hungry?" she asked him.

"That's a rather stupid question, Miss Granger," he said simply. He didn't elaborate. Hermione sighed loudly. This wasn't going to be easy. She brushed a lock of hair out of her face and headed for the kitchen. She pointed at her stove to turn it on. She had no idea what he liked, so she settled with making a cup of tea and some biscuits. Hopefully, that would settle him for a little while.

Once it was finished, she brought the cups of tea and biscuits out into the sitting room, placing them on the coffee table. She sat down across from Severus, toying with her hands in her lap. She didn't know what to say to him – he had changed so much. He was still the bitter, rude man that he had been, but there was a note of desperation in his eyes, and it made Hermione sad. She raked her fingers through her hair, watching the professor as he dug into the food. She had never seen him like that before. She waited patiently for him to finish, then cleared her throat. "So, what happened?" she asked quietly.

Severus looked up at Hermione, cocking an eyebrow. "What is there to know?" he asked her sarcastically. Hermione sighed. This wasn't going to work. He took a sip of tea and looked up at her expectantly.

"Well… what have you been doing since… well, since…." Her voice trailed off. What was she supposed to say? _What have you been doing since you died? _She shrugged, not bothering with continuing. He wasn't going to tell her anything, that much was obvious.

Severus opened his mouth to speak, but the door abruptly opening stopped him. "Hermione, you here?" a voice called. Hermione's eyes widened – _Harry._

She was going to rush out and greet him but she ran out of time. The boy stopped in his tracks, stuttering. "P-professor?"

A/N: Okay, so yes, this one is short too. But I really wanted to get it out there. It's gonna get a LOT more dramatic here before too long and I really hope you guys like it. C: keep on with your AMAZING AMAZING reviews. I love you guys!


End file.
